


Freshly Baked With Love

by whoneedsapublisher



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 10:35:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13432896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whoneedsapublisher/pseuds/whoneedsapublisher
Summary: Honoka's birthday is coming up, and Maki has a special idea for what to give her as a gift.





	Freshly Baked With Love

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thanks to HikariHawkeye for betaing.

Maki wasn’t sure what was the worst part of this situation. The fact that she was covered in batter was certainly a strong contender, but the look Nico was giving her was a strong runner up.

“Maki…” Nico said, her voice part way between patronizing and exasperated. “Have you seriously never used a mixer before?”

Maki looked away silently.

“ _Seriously_ , Maki?!”

“It never came up!” Maki protested. “I-I told you, it’s not like I do the cooking at my house!”

Nico sighed in an exaggerated long suffering way that made Maki really want to punch her in her stupid smug face.

“Well, I guess that’s another thing I have to teach poor sheltered little Maki how to do~” she cooed, casually dumping out the remains of the dough and wiping the mixer’s beaters down with a damp cloth.

“Alright, let’s start from the top again. You _do_ remember how to whisk, right?” Nico paused, looking Maki up and down and seeing where the _rest_ of the dough had gone. “Actually, go wash up first.”

* * *

It had all started with an offhand comment.

Honoka’s birthday was coming up, and μ’s, naturally, had been talking about gifts.

“The wonderful and generous Nico Ni will, of course, get her the most perfect _possible_ present,” Nico said, preening.

“What’s that?” Nozomi asked.

“A signed picture of Nico in a cute pose, and a custom ‘good morning’ voice line for her phone alarm!” Nico said proudly.

“Vetoed,” Umi said flatly, crossing her arms.

Nico scowled at her.

“Oh, is that a kind of character merchandise?” Nozomi asked innocently. “Like how you can get the mascot of some train stations to sign your ticket?”

“It’s irrelevant what it _is_ , because what it _isn’t_ is a good gift,” Umi said, cutting off Nico’s indignant squawk. “Does anyone have any real ideas?”

“We could get her a big hat, nya!” Rin suggested enthusiastically.

“Why a hat?” Eli asked as Umi sighed.

“Well, I have a hat, and Maki has a hat, and Kotori has a hat, but I’ve never seen Honoka wear a hat except on stage,” Rin said.

“...Does she even want a hat?” Eli asked, and Rin shrugged.

“Everyone likes hats,” she insisted.

“Oh, just get her some bread or something,” Nico said. “The stupendous super idol Nico Ni is a master baker as well a master idol, so of course she could make something that would impress even someone who lived in a bakery!”

“How about a new scrunchie?” Kotori suggested, ignoring Nico’s bragging.

They argued back and forth for a while, but one of the ideas stuck with Maki. No matter how much she tried to think of other gifts, her mind was drawn back to that one idea.

* * *

“You want me to _what_?” Nico asked incredulously, when Maki came up to her after practice.

“Shh! Keep your voice down!” Maki hissed, flushing a little and glancing over to make sure Honoka hadn’t taken an interest in their chat. “I-I thought it would be nice to bake some bread for Honoka for her birthday, and you’re always running your mouth off about how talented you are… what? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Nico’s confused expression had morphed into a horrible smirk, twisting her face into an expression of glee tempered with malice. “Ohhhhhh. I see,” she said. “Well, don’t worry. I’ll teach you, Maki.”

Maki blinked. She’d expected more resistance, and had a bunch of candy ready to bribe Nico with. “Really?” she asked, suspiciously.

“Of course!” Nico said, shrugging casually. “The great Nico Ni is always an ally to _maidens in love_.”

Maki turned bright red. “Nico!” she hissed, glancing desperately over at Honoka again, who thankfully was still busy talking with Kotori.

Nico laughed. “Come over to my house on Sunday,” she said. “Make sure you bring the right ingredients, I’ll text you a list tonight.”

“Okay,” Maki said. Taking a deep breath, she added. “...Thank you, Nico.”

Nico gasped in fake surprise. “Maki? Thanking me?” she threw a hand over her forehead. “I may faint from the shock.”

Leaning forward, she put her hands over her chest in a heart shape. “You’re~ welcome~ Maki~” she cooed, moving her hands like a heartbeat as she did.

“Ugh, maybe I’d thank you more if you weren’t so gross about it,” Maki said, scowling. It was a constant source of disbelief that Nico could manage to be this annoying this frequently. And she’d just signed herself up to spend Sunday with her. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all…

* * *

“Okay, let’s try this _again_ ,” Nico said, not bothering to hide her exasperation. “So step one is…”

“Add the milk, yeast, and sugar,” Maki repeated, sullenly.

They were more than an hour in now. So far, it wasn’t going very well. Despite Nico insisting this was a simple recipe, things kept going wrong.

“And then..?” Nico prompted.

“Whisk it and leave it to stand for five minutes.”

“Okay, you’re right so far,” Nico said, rubbing her temple. “Now, did you figure out how to crack the egg without getting shell in the bowl?”

“Yes,” Maki said.

Nico gave her a look.

“...Mostly,” Maki admitted. “But I managed it for these eggs.” So what if it had taken her five tries? She did it eventually. It was weirder that Nico just assumed that people could do it the first try.

“Alright,” Nico said. “Do you think you can handle the mixer this time?”

“I’m not _stupid_ , Nico,” Maki snapped and Nico rolled her eyes.

“Maki, you might do well on tests, but you are _incredibly_ stupid when it comes to this,” she said, crossing her arms. “Nico is just lucky she was wearing an apron, or you would have ruined her cardigan by now.”

“Just because I don’t know how to use-”

“Maki, when I told you to add two eggs the first time you just dropped them into the bowl.”

“You didn’t say anything about the inside part of an egg!”

Nico rolled her eyes again. “I know that not everyone can be as overwhelmingly talented, beautiful, an-”

“Look, I can handle it, okay?” Maki insisted, clumsily slotting the bowl back into the mixture. Taking a deep breath, she reached out to turn on the mixer.

“See, now I just-”

“DON’T!” Nico said, her arm shooting out to grab Maki’s hand.

“What?!” Maki asked, jerking her arm away.

Nico glared at her. “You were about to hit the turbo button, Maki. Use the lower speed setting.”

“...Oh. That… isn’t just the go button?” Maki asked.

“No, Maki,” Nico said.

“I knew that,” Maki said, defensively. “I just thought we’d finish faster.”

“Trust me, Maki, you pressing the turbo button _again_ will not make this end any faster.”

Maki frowned. So what if she’d pressed it by accident before? It was the big green button on the front, why wouldn’t it be the thing you pressed to make it go?

Under Nico’s watchful eye, she reached out and pressed the button marked “one”.

* * *

Maki wasn’t sure when she’d first fallen for Honoka.

It wasn’t when she first met her, that was for sure. Honoka was a pest, trying to rope her into her whole “school idol” foolishness. Okay, maybe her enthusiasm was a little endearing, and maybe Maki kind of liked how energetic she was. But still, she’d tried to avoid her at first, and definitely hadn’t wanted to get caught up with her.

It wasn’t when she first started coming around to μ’s, either. Sure, she’d written them a song, but it wasn’t as if she was mooning over Honoka just yet. She just kind of liked their group, and Umi’s lyrics had inspired her a little.

It might have been when she joined μ’s.

Truthfully, a part of her had already accepted giving up her musical career. Being a doctor was what was most important, after all. Playing piano was always secondary. She’d known that her whole life. Maybe she’d held a part of herself back from caring too much about it. Honoka broke down all her barriers and insisted that she could care about music, about being an idol, and, truthfully… Maki believed her. She really had felt like she could let something other than being a doctor be important to her.

Maybe that was when she’d fallen in love. Or maybe it had been when they’d spent the night at her beach house. Or when Honoka had ended up spraining her leg, and Maki realized how much Honoka hurting hurt Maki as well. Or when she refused to go along with Nico’s plan to continue without Honoka, insisting that she was vital to the group.

Whenever it had happened, it had happened. Maki was head over heels for their leader. She’d _hoped_ to keep it a secret until she got up the courage to confess, but of _course_ that wasn’t possible in a group that contained someone as irritatingly perceptive as Nozomi and someone as infuriatingly talented at making her life unpleasant as Nico. Nozomi, she suspected, had known for a while, but whether Nico had only figured out when Maki asked for her help was anyone’s guess. It seemed likely that it was recent, though- Maki couldn’t imagine Nico not rubbing something like that in her face at the first opportunity.

But it was still worth it if Honoka liked her gift.

* * *

“Maki, don’t touch the dough,” Nico said, not looking up from her idol magazine.

Maki glared at Nico. “I-I wasn’t going to!” she insisted, twirling her hair. “I just wanted to-”

“Don’t touch it. I’ll tell you when it’s ready.”

“Hrmph,” Maki muttered, flopping down in her chair and crossing her arms. Did the dough really need to sit there for an entire _hour_? Surely that couldn’t be right. It just needed to expand a little, right? If she could check to see if it had gotten bigger, Nico would have to admit it was fi-

“Don’t touch the dough, Maki.”

* * *

When Maki first realized she was in love, her first instinct had been _not_ to realize it. Much like the frequently quoted Ross and Kessler stages of grief, Maki’s stages of love had started with denial.

“ _You’re not love in love with Honoka,”_ she’d insisted to herself. “ _You just admire her determination. And passion. And cuteness. And the way her face lights up when someone agrees to do something, like you just gave her a huge present, and-”_

It didn’t work very well, but Maki kept it up stubbornly, determined to ignore the obvious for as long as possible.

The breaking point came when μ’s met up on a day off.

Since they weren’t planning on doing practice, and they weren’t at school, they were all in casual clothes. Maki had managed to convince herself that she was dressing up nicely because she wanted to show the rest of μ’s how stylish she was, and that was the only reason. She did _not_ specifically want to impress Honoka, because why would she care if Honoka thought she looked cute? It wasn’t like she’d be happy if Honoka said something.

When she showed up, somehow, Honoka was the only one there.

“Honoka?”

“Hi Maki! Ooh, you look so good in casual clothes!” Honoka said, eagerly rushing over to dart around Maki, checking out different angles. Maki flushed red. For entirely platonic reasons, she reminded herself.

“Thanks,” she managed, stiffly. “You’re the first one here?”

That was unusual. It wasn’t so much that Honoka was always late to things, although she could be, but she was rarely the first to arrive.

Honoka laughed awkwardly. “I kind of… got a little excited and came here half an hour early,” she admitted. “I wanted to show everyone my new outfit!”

Honoka spread her arms wide to show the outfit off. It was… a lot more daring than Honoka’s usual outfits. It caught Maki off guard, who’d been expecting another t-shirt and maybe some shorts. Instead, Honoka was wearing a flowing yellow skirt and a blue blouse with a _very_ adventurous neckline.

Maki turned even redder. “It looks good,” she said, trying not to stare and failing. She was just _surprised_ , was all. It was unexpected for Honoka to try a look like this, so she was staring in _shock_. That was it.

“Really?” Honoka asked, excited. “I wasn’t sure about something like this, but if Maki thinks it looks good, then it must look good!”

She grinned, looking for all the world like she’d just won a beauty pageant.

Maki was mesmerized by her, and a return smile came unbidden to her face.

She was only smiling because- it wasn’t that- she just- Honoka’s cuteness was- it was just that- the thing was that-

Maki suppressed the urge to make a terrible noise and bury her head in her hands. It was no good. Honoka was too cute already. If she was going to be hot, too, then how could Maki possibly _not_ fall in love with her?

That was when Maki finally admitted to herself what had been true for a while.

* * *

It had taken a lot of tries, but finally, Nico had declared that Maki’s dough was “adequate” and allowed her to put it in the oven. That is, after correcting the dial to the right temperature and assuring that Maki that, no, turning up the oven twice as high didn’t mean it would cook twice as fast.

Maki watched the oven the entire time.

Nico had laughed at her for doing it, and set a timer before going back to her magazine, but Maki didn’t care. So what if this was all routine for Nico? For Maki, this was her first time making bread, and she wanted to watch it rise.

She _did_ start to get a little bored after fifteen minutes, but at that point, backing down would just meant that Nico had won, and there was no way that Maki would let her have the satisfaction. So she resolutely stared through the glass window on the oven door, watching the dough slowly expand and the bread turn brown until the timer finally rang.

“You actually watched it the entire time?” Nico asked, incredulously. “You know, if you really need something to do on your Sundays, Nico Ni could lend you a DVD of one of her performances.”

“I’d much rather watch the bread rise again,” Maki said flatly. “Or paint dry.”

Nico scowled.

“Fine,” she muttered, turning off the oven and getting a pair of oven mitts from a drawer and throwing them at Maki. “Take it out before it burns and leave it to cool on that rack.”

* * *

Maki glanced down at the package in her arms for the tenth time since she’d left Nico’s house. She almost hugged it close, but restrained herself. Nico had warned her that the bread shouldn’t be crushed or it would lose its shape.

She’d really done it. She’d made bread.

Alright, so it wasn’t exactly all on her own, given how much Nico had held her hand through the whole process (although not _literally,_ thank god, Maki thought, wrinkling her nose in displeasure at the notion) but Nico hadn’t actually _done_ any of it. Even if she’d been very tightly guided, Maki had been the one who did all the actual baking. And she was now holding a loaf which Nico described as “less hopelessly inept than I expected”.

It didn’t look quite as good as the bread she’d seen in stores, but Nico assured her that the taste would probably be fine. “With the great Nico Ni’s recipe and expert guidance, even a total amateur like Maki can make delicious bread to awkwardly try to flirt!”

Maki frowned at the memory. She wasn’t _awkwardly flirting._ Just because she was in love with Honoka didn’t mean _everything_ she did was flirting. She just wanted to give Honoka a nice birthday gift. Wasn’t that normal? Wasn’t it totally innocent to want the person you loved to be happy on their birthday? It didn’t have to be flirting!

It wasn’t as if she had the courage to confess anyway.

Maki frown deepened.

* * *

“Happy birthday Honoka!”

Honoka stared wide eyed at the banners set up and the other members of μ’s gathered around in the small room. She didn’t seem to notice that one of the tiny streamers from the popper that Nozomi had pulled was stuck in her hair.

“Guys…” she said, her eyes welling up with tears.

“Come on, Honoka. We got you a cake,” Umi said. She’d been the one to lead Honoka to her surprise party, and now she steered her over to the table where the cake sat, complete with candles.

Maki was nervous. To put it lightly. She tried to focus on how cute Honoka was as she blew out the candles and eagerly made a silent wish. She tried to focus on the slice of cake that Eli passed her. She tried to focus on how much she wanted to kill Nico every time the supposedly older girl looked over and her and smirked.

It didn’t work. Nothing could take her mind off the package she was holding.

Surely Honoka would like it, right? She loved bread. But she’d had so much bread, surely she could tell at a glance how good bread was, right? What if it insulted her refined bread palate?

Maki shook her head, trying to stop being stupid. NIco snorted as she tried to hold back a laugh.

“Is something wrong, Nico?” Kotori asked.

“N-Nothing,” Nico managed, tears in her eyes and a grin on her face.

She glanced momentarily over to Nozomi. Nozomi didn’t react in any… _overtly_ suspicious way, but Maki still got the alarming feeling a signal had been communicated.

“Well then!” she said, clapping her hands together. “Let’s all get our gifts for Honoka and come back in five minutes. You’ll keep Honoka company, right Maki? You can give her your gift first, since you already have it with you.”

Maki suddenly realized that, in fact, no one else had their gift with them. Her eyes darted over to Nozomi, who winked at her as she sheparded everyone else out.

“Good luck~” Nico said in a voice that was way too loud to be a real whisper.

Maki glared at her as she turned on her heel and sauntered out smugly.

“You got me a present?” Honoka asked, excitedly coming up to Maki and invading her personal space in the way she always seemed to exactly when Maki would be most flustered by it.

“Y-Yeah,” Maki said, thrusting her gift out into Honoka’s waiting hands.

Honoka admired the wrapping for a moment before pulling it open.

“It’s… a loaf of bread I baked for you,” Maki said, feeling stupider by the second. What kind of gift was that, anyway? She could have gotten Honoka a nice necklace, or a cute top, or some kind of accessory, or a book or something, and she’d gotten her badly made bread?

Honoka set the bread down on the table and then suddenly leapt at Maki, clinging to her tightly in a hug that Maki was too stunned to try and struggle out of.

“You really baked bread? For me?” Honoka asked. Her mouth was close to Maki’s ear, and the feeling of her breath made Maki flush red as it tickled her ear.

“You really… like it?” Maki asked hesitantly.

Honoka squeezed her harder, and Maki’s heart sped up. Honoka was pressed so close against her.

“I love it,” she said quietly. “Maki, you’re always so…”

Honoka paused for a second, struggling to find the word.

“You’re so different, and cool, and talented and smart,” she mumbled, sounding a little embarrassed. “I didn’t really ever think… you’d do something this personal. That you’d try to be involved in one of my interests.”

Maki’s heart thudded in her chest.

“It… means a lot to me, Maki,” Honoka said, pulling back a little to stare into Maki’s eyes. “You mean a lot to me.”

Maki could only stare back helplessly, as Honoka’s face drew closer and closer, until-

There was a thud outside the door.

“Umi!” Maki heard Kotori hiss. “You can’t!”

“I’m going to stop her f-”

There was another loud noise and the door crashed open, as Umi fell through the doorway with Kotori desperately clinging to her waist, followed by the rest of μ’s, who tumbled into a heap on the floor.

Maki and Honoka sprang apart like the other had caught fire.

“Oh, hi Maki. We, uh, were just getting back,” Nico lied (badly) from underneath Nozomi. “How’d Honoka like your gift?

Maki was about to tell Nico something _entirely_ different, largely relating to what she could go do to herself and what length of pier she should take a long walk off, when Honoka replied instead.

“I liked it this much!” she said suddenly, and quickly leaned over and kissed Maki on the cheek.

Maki flushed red and froze in place as Umi turned a similar shade and started spluttering in disbelief.

Maki held her hand up to her cheek, dumbfounded.

Maybe she should start baking more often.  
  


 


End file.
